Leaving My Own Shadow
by Leaving-My-Mark
Summary: Ep. 7 spoilers! "You just wait, Lin. You'll have your own humungous shadow one day; perhaps it'll make even mine seem small." Lin recalls a conversation she had with her mother as a kid about making a legacy while speaking with Tenzin on the airship.


**Warning: spoilers for Ep. 7 ahead!**

**A/N:** First off, this most recent episode was awesome! Poor cabbage corp. owner man! For having only about fifteen minutes (since the other fifteen is full of commercials) to get an episode in, I think the creators do an amazing job.

And since I find Lin Beifong to be completely and utterly fantastic and BA, I just had to write something about her, involving a bit of Toph. Because the idea came to me that although Sato said even Toph wouldn't be able to bend platinum because it's such a pure form of earth, it is still earth and I think Lin might take the time to learn to bend it in order to get her metalbending crew back.

Not sure whether I like this one or not yet, so it's important you let me know and don't hesitate to criticize!

**Summary: **Lin Beifong recalls a particular talk she had with her mother when she was younger about making her own legacy as she makes the choice to go after Amon and the Equalists outside of the law and realizes how she's going to do it. During The Aftermath, episode 7.

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Her mother had never been one for cheesy motivational speeches. Really, she'd never been anything but stern and tough on the dirt-coated outside with a lot of hidden love and support underneath that only sometimes peaked through. But Lin had gotten used to it, and would've thought it wrong to ever see her mother act otherwise. She knew her mother was just a heavy advocate of tough love and it had only made her stronger.

Although she didn't give speeches often, when her mother did, they weren't necessarily motivational. Or at least, not motivational in the traditional sense. But if there's one thing that they did do, it was knock the confidence back into her whenever she happened to lose it and make her realize she was capable of anything. Due to their effectiveness and the rarity of such speeches, Lin remembered every single one. But there was one particular one that she remembered best and secretly always kept in the back of her mind like a reminder or a motto as to what her goal was.

It was the 30th Anniversary of the end of the Hundred Years War. Republic City was wild with joy, the streets stuffed to the brim with people from not only the city but the world. A lot of them wanted to honor the heroes that ended it all while others were there thinking they'd have a better chance of meeting said heroes. Her mother, although she undoubtedly loved the attention just like her Uncle Sokka, had surprisingly opted to stay at home with Lin. When twelve-year-old Lin had asked, "Why aren't we going? Uncle Aang said you used to love the attention these events brought you," her mother had answered, "I've already been to the one year anniversary, the five, the ten, and the twenty-five year anniversaries. I've received more attention than two-lifetimes' worth." And when Lin followed up on what the other noble heroes like Uncle Sokka and Uncle Aang were doing, it appeared that they all were interested in a more quiet celebration this year. Lin wondered why none of them had shown up to the fifteenth and twentieth anniversaries, but didn't bother to ask. She knew that that was the time during which everyone began to settle down and started getting sick of all the attention. They began to try to put the past further behind them so they could live somewhat quieter lifestyles without so many public interruptions.

And so Lin had spent the day with her mother at home. They'd had breakfast, practiced some bending without sense of sight, which was sometimes so hard to do, and then just sat around lazily for a little bit to cool down. It had been a nice day so far, and there was still more to come. Her mother had mentioned going to Air Temple Island later for dinner with the Gaang, so they called it, which Lin had been thrilled about. She couldn't wait.

But while they were sitting around outside in their well-enclosed and spacious backyard, Lin couldn't help but let her mind stray to the distant sounds of the crowd celebrating in the streets. It was so loud, despite their distance from the city itself. The Beifong's Republic City estate was far off on the outskirts of town but close enough that they had a view of Air Temple Island and close enough that her mother could easily travel to and from the Police Headquarters downtown.

Lin wondered what it must be like to be so adored and appreciated by everyone. She wondered whether she'd ever do something that would impress and awe people and make them so thankful that they'd come from all over the world to see her and flood the city just to honor her. For twelve years she had lived in her mother's shadow, and she began to hope that she might one day leave her own shadow.

And it seemed she'd voiced all these thoughts, or at least some of them, aloud, because her mother sat up abruptly and turned her head in Lin's general direction to address her. "Hey, if it makes a difference to you, kiddo, I don't see you standing under my shadow. I see you standing beside me as you let your own grow. You just wait, Lin. You'll have your own humungous shadow one day; perhaps it'll make even mine seem small."

"That's really nice of you, mom, but please; I know that you know that's what I'm thinking, but I'm twelve now and I haven't done anything. I've hardly got Metalbending down. By the time you were my age you were saving the world and inventing a new form of bending! I'm not going to be leaving a shadow of any kind of significance." Lin argued, sitting up and leaning back on her palms as she rolled her eyes.

"You think that in order to be great you have to be young, Lin? What happened to that noggin I thought you had in that big, stubborn head of yours?" Her mother countered. "It's not when you accomplish something it's what you accomplish. So what if you don't do something really amazing until you're 63 years old? You'll accomplish something and be remembered for it regardless. Besides, it's kind of boring if you do something great while you're young. Then you're always trying to duplicate it; always wondering if you've got any other purpose in life or if you've already served it and from here on out you're just going to be known for something you did years ago.

"Do you think it was fun having that much weight on my shoulders when I was twelve, by the way? The fate of the Earth Kingdom and the fate of the world? Well, I'll tell you, it's not. I nearly lost my life, I nearly lost Aang twice, and I nearly lost Sokka. In fact, had it not been for Sokka or Suki, I would've died. Although at the time he and I thought for certain we were going to die; we'd said our goodbyes and everything.

"The day of the comet, that final day of battle for the balance and fate of the world, I felt so much earth burn. I felt the Earth Kingdom dwindle away to charred trees and ash below me until we figured out a way to stop it.

"You want that much of a burden on your shoulders when you've barely even been alive for more than a decade? You want to wonder what meaning there is in your life now that you've accomplished everything you think you could possibly do? Be my guest, then, kiddo. But I'm just warning you, it's not as much fun and glory as everyone else makes it out to be."

Lin stared. She had no idea what she was supposed to say or do in response to that. Her mother had never told her so much about the War days before. She'd never told her first hand that she and Sokka had been so convinced they were going to die or that she'd felt the heat of the fire burning away the Earth Kingdom all the way from up in the airship she'd been inside.

In fact, that was, perhaps, the most her mother had ever said about anything. She normally didn't reveal so much about personal feelings or experiences. This was an extremely rare occasion.

"Let me know when you're done gaping like a koi fish and ready to admit I'm right," her mother said dismissively as she plopped back down onto the earth with her arms folded underneath her head.

Lin stared at her mother for a couple minutes longer, all those words she had said about the War and shadows and glory bouncing around in her head like Tenzin used to on his air scooter when they were little and he was aiming to make Lin jealous. _Can you do _this _with Earthbending, Lin?_ She used to retaliate by stomping her foot and catapulting him into a bush. He didn't learn to airbend himself safely to the ground before collapsing until he was seven.

Now that she thought about it, it was a rather ridiculous notion to think that becoming a hero was something one had to do while they were young or else it was never going to happen. She could leave her shadow to tower over everyone whenever it happened. It didn't have to happen now or even six or seven years from now. But when it did, she would leave a monumental shadow. Maybe it wouldn't be bigger than her mother's, but she'd make sure it was one to take note of.

Lin took a deep breath and finally conceded to the words her mother had been waiting to hear. "You're right, mom."

She saw the slight upturn of her mother's lips; it was that infamous Blind Bandit smirk, the one she only saw on occasion. "You bet your tail, I am."

And even years later, she never thought she had left as monumental a shadow as she could have. She was starting to think like the twelve-year-old Lin again, wondering how she'd ever do it or if she ever would, until she found herself lying in an airship with Tenzin at her side and feeling like an utter failure at her job.

That's when she knew exactly what she was going to do to live up to everything she and her mother thought she would. She was going to take down the Equalists.

And how in the name of Kyoshi was she going to do that, especially after facing Sato's dangerous new weapon? She was going to figure out how to bend platinum.

If there was one thing her mother had taught her besides that she could leave her own shadow, it was that she should never let anyone ever tell her she couldn't do something. If she wanted, she could bend even the most remote piece of earth, and that's exactly what she was going to do.

After all, platinum may be the purest form of earth possible, but it was a form of earth.

**A/N: **Personally, I think that besides her mom and the others of Team Avatar, Lin would most respect Avatar Kyoshi. A strong Earthbender, a strong woman, and a woman who created her own unique and elite force of warriors just like her mother and she did. But that's like, a really small part of this fic and it's kind random.

While obviously Lin's goal to defeat the Equalists isn't reputation oriented, it's about getting her men back and keeping the city safe, I think she is trying to live up to her mother's reputation in a way, trying to be her own person and not the daughter of Toph Beifong, and I think she does place reputation high up on the list.

The bigger thing I want to know is what you think about how Toph is portrayed, about what she said, and about what Lin's new goal to defeat Amon and get her officers back is. And anything else. Comments, criticism, and concerns are all welcome! Please read and review!


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